Nightcap
by ohmytheon
Summary: After a full day straight of working to hunt down a rogue alchemist that the military wants to recruit, all Roy wants to do is have a drink. Luckily, his new adjutant is able to read his mind.
**Author's Notes:** So I originally started writing this for another prompt, but it, uh, got a little too dark for that one, so I was able to rework it to use this one instead. Oops? The prompt was Roy/Riza + "Please, don't leave."

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

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 **Nightcap**

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It was late. He was tired. Even worse, he was very much sober.

Roy rubbed his face and searched the room for the mini-fridge. It had to be around here somewhere. When he finally found the thing, exhausted as he was, he bent down to open it, but found it devoid of the proper beverages. Had he been a weaker person, he might've yelled out in frustration. Instead he smacked the wall and collapsed onto the ground, leaning back against the foot of the bed.

They'd spent the past twenty-six hours working, searching the town, cleaning up the devastation, interviewing witnesses, among other things. There was more to be done and the end didn't look close in sight. Roy was particularly peeved because of the implications of the attack. An alchemist gone wrong, using his gifts to bully people and wreak havoc on a small town that didn't know any better. As the only alchemist currently stationed in East City, he and his team had been dispatched to the outskirts. He supposed that he should be grateful that he was being allowed to run missions like this on his own as only a Lieutenant-Colonel, but that still didn't mean he was happy.

The people here had been spent the past few weeks being terrified by a rogue alchemist. The government wanted to crack down on the man responsible, but Roy knew the truth. They didn't want to lock the man up; they wanted to leash him and use him. Roy was the dog snatcher. With so many alchemists turning in their pocket watches and titles, the State Alchemist program was sorely lacking. This was a recruiting mission.

That frustrated him beyond belief. Twenty-six hours of working straight for something he knew was corrupt in the end, and all he wanted was a drink.

A knock on his door caused Roy to tilt his head back up and glance at it warily. If it was someone from the team with a new sighting, he might just actually hide in the closet. He needed to sleep. He wanted a drink. He felt paper thin as it was, a dog hunting a wolf to be chained up.

"Sir?" Riza's voice called out from the other side.

If it had been anyone else, Roy was almost certain that he would've ignored it and pretended to be asleep, even if the glow of the lamp could be seen from outside. As it stood though, it wasn't anyone else - it was her - and he was loathe to ignore or lie to her.

Dragging himself to his feet, Roy shuffled over to the door and unlocked it so that he could open the door and peer outside at her. "Was there another sighting, Lieutenant?" The exhaustion had to be evident in his voice for her gaze to soften so wonderfully.

"No, sir, I merely thought–" Riza hesitated, her cheeks turning a little pink. That was curious. "I mean, I heard a noise in your room and I–"

Ah, he'd slapped the wall out of frustration when he'd realized that the hotel didn't stock the fridge with alcohol. Her room was adjacent to his. She'd come to check on him after hearing the sound, perhaps worried about him. The noise and then sudden silence had made her nervous. Roy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. They were less than a year together as a team. She was still learning her new place with him. The adjustment was more difficult than they'd anticipated or liked to admit.

Roy still didn't like the way she called him "sir". It sounded so foreign to him after he'd spent so long convincing her to call him by his name instead of "Mr. Mustang" when they were young. Would they always be doomed to this life?

"I'm fine, Lieutenant, just frustrated and–"

"In need of a drink?" Riza asked as she held up a bottle of amber liquid in one hand and a glass in the other.

Roy raised his eyebrows at that. "Where did you find that?"

A small smile appeared on Riza's face, though the blush hadn't faded yet from her cheeks. "Warrant Officer Havoc apparently had the foresight to bring his own libation. He knew the motel wouldn't likely provide their own since he's from a small town."

"And he was okay to part with it?"

She wiggled the bottle in the air, the liquid sloshing about. "Well, as you can see, only half of it is remaining. He and Warrant Officer Breda were more than happy to share with their commanding officer."

Mentally noting that he would have to thank his subordinates later with a nice gift upon returning to East City, Roy opened the door completely and stepped aside so that Riza could walk in. He hadn't even finished shutting the door before she set the bottle and glass down on the desk and turned to face him.

The two of them locked eyes. Time seemed to stand still for a second. Roy opened his mouth to say something, anything, but he couldn't think straight. Her eyes were the same color as the alcohol. She'd need to get her hair cut soon if she planned on keeping it short, a few strands sticking out and falling in her eyes, a sign of her own exhaustion. She still stood up straight and was completely in uniform despite the hour and the fact that his own jacket was cast aside and the top few buttons of his shirt undone. Likely she didn't know what was appropriate to wear around him in the dead of night at a motel.

Riza was able to break out of the moment first, averting her eyes to the ground. "I should go–"

"Please, don't leave."

The words tumbled out of his mouth. He didn't even remember thinking them before he said them. For a second, he wished that he could somehow gather them up again and hide them, if only so she wouldn't see him acting weakly, but there was nothing to be done. They were already in the air; there was no taking them back.

At first, Riza merely jerked her eyes back up at him and blinked in surprise, her mouth parted a little. Roy, for his part, did not look away from her, no matter how embarrassed or ashamed he felt. He shouldn't have said that. He didn't want to put her in a sticky situation or make her feel awkward or uncomfortable. He was her commanding officer now, not her friend. Already the implications of her coming into his hotel room in the middle of night with a bottle of alcohol might look bad to anyone watching.

But they were miles away from Eastern Headquarters in a town where no one knew them and where they were the first officers to be seen since the Ishval War ended a year ago. He was tired and aggravated and feeling more insecure in his position than he would ever admit, not just as a commanding officer and head of the mission, but also as a State Alchemist himself. What was he doing here? Was he so egotistical that he thought he could make it to the top to help others? Was he merely pretending to do good and help people in order to mask his own arrogant ambitions? Was he so cold that he would damn others to his fate in order to get there?

Was he any better than the alchemist they were trying to hunt down now? At least this man hadn't killed anyone. Was Roy worse then? He didn't even know how many people he'd killed. He'd gained the same things as this man in the end: money, power, respect, fear.

What in the hell was he doing here?

Roy had fallen so far into his thoughts that he hadn't even realized that Riza had stepped closer to him. He was startled to find her so close to him, but he didn't move. She wore a carefully guarded expression on her face, her eyes even unreadable to him, as she put one hand on his arm and reached over slowly to shut the door the rest of the way. It had been so long since she'd been close to him, not since he'd burned her back, not since he…

"Are you going to offer to pour me a drink, sir, or must I do that myself as well?" Riza asked him.

Her voice took him aback. It almost sounded like she was teasing him. She kept a straight face when she did that, her tone flat and measured, looking and sounding resolute. She didn't even blink or smile. That, in turn, caused a small smile to quirk onto his lips. She was bringing him back. She must've seen the dark look in his eyes and guessed where his thoughts were going, so she did what needed to be done in order to reel him back in. How had he managed to get so lucky with her? There was no way he would've been able to mud through these waters without her.

"I wouldn't be a proper host if I allowed my guest to pour her own drink, now would I?"

Finally, Riza smiled and Roy felt a rush of relief flood through his chest. Things were difficult and they could be strange. He didn't always know who he was or what they were. But with her at his side, he'd find his way eventually. He'd seen the light again. He wouldn't lose sight of himself completely. She was his guide, his rock, his safety, as she had been for so long and always would be.


End file.
